India AI Summit 2026: Sam Altman Hails India as IT Stocks Surge

New Delhi, February 16, 2026 – The eyes of the global tech community and Dalal Street are firmly fixed on Bharat Mandapam today as the India AI Impact Summit 2026 officially kicks off. The event, inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, marks a historic milestone as the first major global AI gathering hosted in the Global South.

Ahead of the summit’s high-profile sessions, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman sent waves through the Indian markets with a powerful endorsement of the country’s digital future, describing India as a potential “full-stack AI leader.”

Sam Altman’s Vision: “Built in India, for India”

In a significant outreach prior to his keynote, Sam Altman revealed that India has surged to become OpenAI’s second-largest user base globally, trailing only the United States. With over 100 million weekly active users on ChatGPT, the country has transitioned from a mere consumer of tech to a driving force of the AI revolution.

“India has all the ingredients to be a full-stack AI leader: homegrown tech talent, a national strategy, and an infectious optimism about what the technology can do,” Altman wrote, highlighting that the nation also boasts the largest number of students using ChatGPT worldwide.

Altman’s framework for India’s success rests on three “pillars of impact”:

• Access: Ensuring AI tools remain affordable and available to all.
• Adoption: Integrating AI into the “real workflows” of clinics, classrooms, and farms.
• Agency: Empowering citizens with the literacy to not just use AI, but to build with it.

He also emphasized OpenAI’s commitment to building AI “in India, with India, and for India,” hinting at upcoming sovereign partnerships with the Indian government under the IndiaAI Mission.

IT Stocks in Focus: TCS, Infosys, and HCLTech

The summit has sparked intense interest in India’s IT majors—TCS, Infosys, and HCLTech—as investors weigh the transition from traditional software services to AI-led “full-stack” solutions.

• Infosys & TCS: With the summit expected to facilitate nearly $100 billion in investment commitments, the “Big Two” are under the microscope. Analysts are looking for signs of how these giants will pivot their massive workforces toward generative AI delivery models to maintain their global competitive edge.
• HCLTech: CEO C Vijayakumar is among the distinguished attendees, signaling the firm’s intent to lead in AI infrastructure and engineering services.
• Market Sentiment: While the Nifty IT index saw cautious movements in early trade, the long-term outlook remains bullish as the government unveils plans for AI labs across 500 universities and the launch of home-grown sovereign AI models.

A Global AI Powerhouse in the Making

The five-day summit, organized around the themes of People, Planet, and Progress, is more than just a talk shop. Union Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw confirmed that the event will yield at least 10 actionable outcomes, including the rollout of standardized AI curricula and the expansion of shared GPU computing facilities.

With industry titans like Sundar Pichai, Satya Nadella (represented by Brad Smith), and Demis Hassabis joining Altman in New Delhi, the message is clear: the roadmap for global AI policy and deployment is being rewritten in India.

Key Highlights of Day 1:

• India AI Expo: Showcasing over 300 exhibitors from 30 countries.
• Sovereign Models: The expected unveiling of Indian-language LLMs (Large Language Models) trained on local datasets.
• Investment Surge: Discussions linked to over $70 billion in existing and prospective AI-related infrastructure.

As Sam Altman noted, “AI will help define India’s future, and India will help define AI’s future.” For investors in India’s IT sector, this week may mark the beginning of a new era of “Intelligence-as-a-Service.”